Displaying items by tag: sugarfree

With all my dietary preferences, it can be challenging to find crunchy snacks that really satisfy. Potato chips are tasty yet have no nutritonal value and are full of oil. I'm sensitive to gluten and corn, so chips made from those ingredients are out of the question. Bean chips are a great alternative, but they often upset my stomach. Kale chips have been the answer for years, however I crave variety. That's why I was absolutely thrilled when I discovered Wonderfully Raw's Snip Chips and Brussel Bytes - in addition to being raw, they're:

The word "diet" has a bad connotation these days: it conjures up themes of deprivation, malnutrition and low success rates. Many diets are started because of social pressure from friends, family and the media, and when that's the driving force there's a higher chance of failing since there's less emphasis on a healthy structure. I experienced this first hand as a teenager - I thought I was chubby so I tried all sorts of fad diets and none of them worked long term. It wasn't until I educated myself on nutrition and payed attention to the signs my body was telling me about food sensitivities that I got to a healthy weight and stayed there.

Not only is it Celiac Awareness Month but it's also Food Allergy Awareness Week! Does that mean that celiac's is more important to all the other food allergies? Hmmm... Anyways, to celebrate I want to introduce to a new company making wonderful gluten-free baking mixes: Zema's Madhouse Foods. The founder took her health, fitness and ADHD perspective to combine ancient whole grains with superseeds chia, hemp and flaxmeal into delicious creations. Each mix is kosher, Non-GMO Project Verified, and free of refined sugar and the top 8 allergens. And yet there's so much inside - in fact, for most recipes all you need to add in is wet ingredients like milk and egg alternatives of choice. Fill your kitchen with Cinnamon-Oatmeal Apple Muffins, Multigrain Pancake & Waffles, Cocoa Teff Pancake & Waffles and Rosemary-Millet Focaccia & Pizza Crust - Zema's sent me the latter two to try and here's what I thought:

The is the first of a series of recipes featuring Way Better Snacks' tortilla chips now that I'm part of their ambassador team (read more on that here). My goal is to find unique ways to use them and inspire you to get more creative - there's so many ways to enjoy chips other than in dips and nachos. This is a twist on the traditional SouthWest Salad - it is free of salt, oil, sugar, gluten, soy, and corn and is raw (however, the chips are made from organic, non-GMO corn and contain a bit of oil).

I served it to my family and they really enjoyed it. They're not used to salt and oil-free dressing so if I were to make it for them again I'd add in more garlic (2 cloves instead of 1) and perhaps use a bit more dressing. We all agreed that the crunch and flavor of the Way Better chips were the best part. It was more than enough salad for a filling lunch for each of us.

This salad is incredibly easy to make and is a delicious example of how great veggies can be without oil or dressing.  It's also a great way to feature kale in a dish. Though it is raw and unprocessed, keep in mind that the avocado and seeds add a significant amount of fat, so if you're trying to cut back on that you may want to reduce the amount suggested in this recipe. From an eco standpoint, this meal is wonderful because you can get everything without packaging!

I had the pleasure of making a meal with my fabulous new intern Junghwa of An Apple A Day and together we prepared 2 raw recipes. She picked out the Spanish "Rice" from Unprocessed by Chef AJ and I chose the Marvelous Minestrone from Ani Phyo's new book 15-Day Fat Blast. These are great recipes for summer, whether you're trying to lose weight, get healthier or incorporate more fresh, whole foods into your diet without unecessary additives like salt, oil and sugar. In fact, these are acceptable for the 80/10/10 diet as well.

This is by far one of the most interesting things I've made, but it is quite refreshing and very filling. I didn't want to scare you with the title, but it's actually watermelon rind juice blended with fresh mint, lime and dates. Sounds kinda gross but I'm obsessed with it, and it's a great way to use the whole watermelon. I don't know about you, but I've been OBSESSED with watermelon and since I eat it practically everyday (yup) my compost was overflowing with rind until I stumbled upon this recipe. Plus, it has all sorts of nutrients like vitamin C, lycopene and antioxidants. So, head to the store, buy yourself a watermelon, bliss out while eating the inside, and then top it all off by breaking out your juicer to make this satisfying drink!